The Parting of Fates
by Dippyserenity
Summary: Arthur is in grave danger. Stabbed with a sword impregnated poison unknown to even Gaius, no one knows how much time he has left. To save him, Merlin must seek out a powerful sorceress, who lives deep in the valley of the fallen kings. He will face many perils through the way, the most dangerous of all being his heart - which just might turn on him in a way he never expected.
1. Chapter 1: Distant Thunder

Merlin awoke to the sound of thunder. He rolled over to see lashes of rain splattering his window mercilessly, and groaned. The castle was even more moldy and chilly when it rained. Arthur would be rabid – training was shot. In this weather, the knights wouldn't be able to see the swords in front of their faces.

"Merlin! Get up, lazy lout!" Gaius chirped cheerfully through his door. "You've overslept!"

Merlin shot out of bed in horror. "I'm up! Gaius, why didn't you wake me?" he shouted. "What time is it? Is Arthur awake yet?" He pulled on a shirt and a pair of socks before tripping out of his room, nearly stumbling into a table on his way out.

"Merlin, at least have some breakfast," Gaius tried as the boy dashed for the door.

"NotimesorryGaiusgottagoseeyoulaterbye!" Merlin yelled as he slammed to door.

"Don't forget you promised to help me collect herbs today!" Gaius called after him.

Merlin fairly sprinted down the corridor, nearly smacking into Gwen, who was carrying a basket of dirty laundry rather aimlessly in the opposite direction he was going. She smiled at him and opened her mouth to say good morning, but he was already gone. The castle was barely even awake yet – or perhaps it was just the absence of light that made it seem so. The blaze of torches flickering off the stone walls was not nearly enough to overpower the nonexistent sun outside.

Merlin skidded to a stop in front of Arthur's bedroom door ten minutes later, carrying a heavily laden breakfast tray and a prayer that Arthur would choose to have mercy on him. Holding his breath, he tapped on the door. No answer. Merlin sighed and tapped again, then pushed opened the door.

The tray dropped to the floor with a crash that Merlin barely heard. Arthur was lying on the floor. Excepting the odd position of his legs and arms, and the bloody wound scraped, gaping, across his chest, he might have been asleep.

"Oh, god, oh god," he muttered feverishly, rushing over to where the prince lay. Arthur's skin was as pale as marble, and his wrist, when Merlin felt it for a pulse, was cold as ice. His eyes were half open, unseeing, and the glazed blue slits of his irises were just visible. Merlin felt his skin tingle with horror as he felt, with increasing desperation, for a pulse that he could not find. "Arthur, do me a favor and don't – _please_ don't be dead, you great idiot," Merlin huffed as his fingers flew to the wound and he leaned down to examine it more closely. He recoiled in horror – there was a horrible stench coming from it, something like a rotting corpse. But more than that – it was a feeling, a premonition. Something like death. Something like poison.

Merlin jerked back, shouting over his shoulder as he came to his senses. "Help!" he yelled. "The prince, he's hurt! Please, someone!" Merlin knew his voice must sound close to tears, but he didn't much care. He felt something sink inside of him, a deadening of optimism. Had this been foretold, and he simply had not seen it? Arthur surely couldn't die now. But what would happen to their intertwined destinies if he did?


	2. Chapter 2: Heavy rain

Merlin had never in his life thought that he would see a king cry.

Uther knelt, unseeing, at his son's bed. His face was clenched as though he himself was horribly wounded, and the tears, surely unbidden, rolled down his cheeks. Arthur had grown paler than ever in the past few minutes, and Merlin, unable to stand the tension as Gaius examined the prince, had left the room. He was now pacing back and forth in front of the door, waiting anxiously for any news, any sign. Anything.

"Merlin!" a voice called. Merlin turned to see Gwen dashing towards him. "Merlin, what on _earth_ is happening?" she asked him in bewilderment, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone's rushing about but no one will _tell_ me what's going on!"

Merlin turned to face her. "Gwen, this might be a bit of a shock," he said gently, taking her hands in his. She looked stricken and her cheeks drained of any rosiness that they might have possessed as he told her what had happened.

"Oh, my god," she whispered, pulling away from him and folding her arms over each other as if she could protect herself from the horrible news. "Do they know who did it?" Her voice was level, but she was slowly sinking lower and lower toward the ground, as if she could no longer hold herself upright. "Does – does Morgana know?"

Merlin felt faint. "Gwen – I don't think anyone's told her," he said shamefacedly. "I only found him a few minutes ago," he added. "I s'pose – I suppose we'd go fetch her."

They both jumped as the utter silence was broken by a horrible yell. It sounded like Uther, but the sound was unlike any word that Merlin had ever heard. It was a sound of pure grief, or pain. They heard Uther shriek something in anger – presumably at Gaius. The door banged open. Merlin and Gwen both flattened themselves against the wall as Uther stormed from the room, looking both livid and unbearably miserable. They watched silently until he strode out of sight, then poked their heads into the room. Gaius was sitting on a chair, looking completely defeated. He raised his head as they entered.

"Oh. It's you two." His tone terrified Merlin. Gaius _never_ sounded like this – like he was totally devoid of all emotion. "I've just told Uther that his son probably has about a day and a half left to live; seems to have upset him for some reason."

Merlin walked over to the old man and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Gaius…" he tried to force out the words, _it's not your fault, Uther's just sad that his son is dying,_ but he couldn't form them on his lips. He turned to see Gwen standing before Arthur, with her hands pressed so tightly to her mouth that the knuckles had turned white. Her eyes were glazed with tears. "Gaius, is there nothing we can do?" Merlin murmured urgently. Gaius gazed at him with hopeless eyes.

"Merlin, I wish there were. It's not the wound that's killing him – it's the poison, as you suspected. The blade that stabbed him was impregnated with it."

"And no one knows who did it? Who stabbed him? _Someone_ must have seen," Merlin said desperately. But Gaius shook his head gravely.

"No one's seen anything unusual. The knights are questioning everyone and searching all of the rooms, of course, but even if the culprit were to be found I'm not sure if would be of use." Gaius stood and walked over to Arthur's bed. He was asleep, but clearly dreaming – his hands shook and his lashes fluttered madly, and he looked so pitiful that Merlin could barely stand to watch. Gaius sighed. "The poison is unlike any I've ever seen before. It seems to target the bloodstream itself – his blood is literally boiling, adding fever to everything else. I'm sure it's source is magical, but there's not enough time to research. He has less than a day," Gaius said, his voice cracking. "The most we can do is to keep the wound from becoming more infected and to make sure he's comfortable."

"_No_," Merlin said vehemently. "We _can't_ just let him _die_, Gaius." His eyes were wide and he was gripping Gaius' hand desperately. "We _can't_. Please, there has got to be _something._ I know you never give up."

Gaius stared at Merlin for a long moment, then led him out of Gwen's earshot. "I promised myself that I wouldn't bring this up, Merlin. I won't lie to you, but this – this is madness. You _cannot_ – promise me you won't," he said quietly.

"What?" Merlin prompted. "_What?_"

"It's…" Gaius sighed. "The poison is unknown to me, but there is one who might. I did not dare to tell the king because he believes her to be dead."

"Who is…"

"She's a very powerful sorceress," Gaius said hurriedly, still in a hushed voice. "Many don't even dare speak her name, lest they invoke her presence. In the time when magic was free, she was one of the few who kept her sorcery to herself. Did not use it to harm, but made no effort to help others, either. It's rumored that she was once a high priestess of the Old Religion, but was banished for practicing magics used for invoking gods."

Merlin stared at him. He felt nothing but absolute conviction. No qualms, no what-ifs. "Gaius, I need you to tell me," he said intently. "Where does she live?"

"Merlin," Gaius said, "It would be utter madness to try to find her. She lives in the valley of the fallen kings, but none know the exact location. Nor would it be certain that she would help you. Please, Merlin, you can't go. There are unspeakable dangers…" his voice shook. "I can't lose you, too."

"You can't lose who?"

Merlin and Gaius both jumped to see Gwen staring at both of them, a look of terror on her sweet face. "What's going on, Gaius?" she asked. "Please. You can't keep this from me."

Sighing, Gaius told her everything. "But it would be insane to try it. I don't know how much time Arthur has left."

"Then we'll have to make haste!" Gwen cried. The news that Arthur's case was not hopeless seemed to have put a new life into her. Her cheeks were red and her eyes bright. "If there's a chance that we can save the prince, then we will!"

"Gwen," Merlin said quietly. "I'm sorry. You can't go, it's far too dangerous."

She turned on him, eyes flashing, but Gaius intervened angrily. "Neither of you is going! Merlin," he said beseechingly, "You must see sense. There is nothing – _nothing _– that we can do." His voice was sad but firm. _This is how it is. You must accept it. _

Merlin stared at him wordlessly, his face dark with grief. Then he turned and stormed from the room. _You can't stop me, Gaius. I'll find the sorceress myself._


End file.
